Abstract
In a rural community under siege of gender-based violence (GBV), it is necessary to work together and to learn from each other to address a complex problem like GBV. Despite the growing body of literature dedicated to community engagement, girls leading the community in relation to addressing GBV remain an understudied area. In this chapter, we explore rural schoolgirls’ use of a digital dialogue tool they developed—consisting of arts-based visual artefacts such as cellphilms, policy posters and action briefs about GBV—to lead a dialogue in the school community. We respond to the question: What are the rural school community members’ responses to the schoolgirls’ using a digital dialogue tool in engaging in dialogue with them to address gender-based violence? The girl-led dialogues were thematically analysed using a critical audience engagement framework. We offer four moments in response to the question; one, a new respect for girls, two, girls in dialogue, three, encouraging leadership and four, we are listening. The space the girls created for the community members to engage in a dialogue around an arts-based digital dialogue tool was something new in the community and demonstrated how girls could take the lead in their community.
Ethics approval number: H15-EDU-ERE-031.
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Yamile, N., de Lange, N. (2023). Connecting Community: Rural Girls Using an Arts-Based Digital Dialogue Tool to Address Gender-Based Violence. In: Mreiwed, H., Carter, M.R., Hashem, S., Blake-Amarante, C.H. (eds) Making Connections in and Through Arts-Based Educational Research. Studies in Arts-Based Educational Research, vol 5. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8028-2_7
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